How is the 4.5 Rustys lift?

Im thinking about buying the 4.5 rustys full pack lift with 33s. Has anyone run this before (pictures?) and also what are the pros and cons to this lift
Want to lift the jeep as soon as possible.:repair:
I heard its a good lift what do you think? Ill just have it about a year or so.So i can save money for a rubicon 5.5 in a year and a half.

Thanks

i would just save for the rubi unit. rustys blows man and im not just another nay sayer. I am speaking from expiriance. i have the rubicon 5.5 on my rig with rustys long arms which i will soon be getting rid of. go for the rubicon unit. or check out rock krawler (rockkrawler.com) they have a damn good lift as well.

ok thanks what is the bad about the lift?

the trackbar is crap, the leaves are crap (mine turned into a W shape) Still running the lowers with new bushings, and the springs are nice and soft.

Honestly look around, figure out what you have the skills to make, and spend what you do have for some quality parts

If you have no skills, just save for the RE kit, i mean your gonna have to pay someone to install it anyway, might as well only get reamed once.

I'd agree the track bar is a POS. I broke the threaded end like 3 or 4 times while I had it (less then 1 year)

I don't mind the leafs though. I have the 6.5" pack and I put a traction bar on almost as soon as I had the lift on. It has been doing well for over 3 years now and not sagged much.

i havent really heard anything good about rustys lifts. i have a 5.5 RE lift and i have no complaints

souske said:

the trackbar is crap, the leaves are crap (mine turned into a W shape) Still running the lowers with new bushings, and the springs are nice and soft.

Honestly look around, figure out what you have the skills to make, and spend what you do have for some quality parts

If you have no skills, just save for the RE kit, i mean your gonna have to pay someone to install it anyway, might as well only get reamed once.

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What do you mean "figure out what you have the skills to make"??

I ran the 3.5" lift when I first started. The front was good 'til I put a winch bumper on but the add-a- leafs sagged within about 3 months. The good was that Rusty himself gave me a credit toward leaf packs. The rear leafs are still on my jeep with a shackle and they still are holding their own. The front coils I changed out though for RE and I will probably eventually change out the rear leafs too, as they seem to feel too soft. The shocks seemed as if they were immediately bad. I replaced those within the first year. The kit is just a little weak for my taste and I wouldn't advise getting it if you plan on hauling ANYTHING, including new bumpers or if you ever plan on going off road. If you will not haul or go offroad, and you just want it for looks, then go ahead and get it.

XJ[4x4]77 said:

i would just save for the rubi unit. rustys Track bar blows man and im not just another nay sayer. I am speaking from expiriance. i have the rubicon 5.5 on my rig with rustys long arms which i will soon be getting rid of. go for the rubicon unit. or check out rock krawler (rockkrawler.com) they have a damn good lift as well.

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fixed. Thier parts aren't terrible but that track bar is janky.

Put together your own lift. Thats what im doing.

-Clayton long arm upgrade
-RE 5.5 coils
-Skyjacker nitro shocks
-RE rear leafs.
-RC trackbar and dpa
-Brakelines.

my trac bar anapped while driving down a gravel driveway, i lost all steering and about crashed off the side of a cayon. screw rustys, i told them about the problem and they pretty much told me to kick rocks. no respect for anything with rustys name on it. I also question the steel they use, they claim that their trac bar is 1.25 DOM tubing and not a cheap china knock off steel pipe. but i think differantly, when mine broke the so called "DOM" tubing looked quite a bit like some cheap low quality grade steel.

kniel3378 said:

Put together your own lift. Thats what im doing.

-Clayton long arm upgrade
-RE 5.5 coils
-Skyjacker nitro shocks
-RE rear leafs.
-RC trackbar and dpa
-Brakelines.

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Yeah thats what i was going to do Re 5.5 coils, Rancho Shocks, make my own leaf pack, i have some trackbars laying around,extrended brake lines and i just need LCA

Im thinking the old man emu control arms, Has anyone ran these, Any good or bads?

XJ[4x4]77 said:

my trac bar anapped while driving down a gravel driveway, i lost all steering and about crashed off the side of a cayon. screw rustys, i told them about the problem and they pretty much told me to kick rocks. no respect for anything with rustys name on it. I also question the steel they use, they claim that their trac bar is 1.25 DOM tubing and not a cheap china knock off steel pipe. but i think differantly, when mine broke the so called "DOM" tubing looked quite a bit like some cheap low quality grade steel.

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couldnt agree more, even if the rest of their products are just gravy... the fact that their trackbar is STILL causing problems, means anyone with a rational mind will run, not walk, from rustys.


they must be really cheap, cause theres ALLWAYS someone defending rustys....

xcm said:

theres ALLWAYS someone defending rustys....

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Here i am!

Obviously some people have had a bad experience with Rusty's stuff. I can only base my oppinion on my expeirience with them. Which has been nothing but good. me and my friends all have rusty's stuff, one 4.5" W/long arm xj, one 6.5" Long arm xj, one 3.5" xj, one 3" TJ, and one 5.5 long arm zj. I've had this lift (4.5") for 7 years, and the long arm for about three. With 33's and now i'm on 35's since last spring. Never had any troubles with rusty's producs except slow shipping and one brake line that had a small ding in it and couldn't hold pressure. I have also had really good customer service from them anytime i had a question about something i just called and i got someone who helped me without sitting on hold for three hours.

Here's a picture of my jeep with the 4.5" before long arms on 33's




And how it sits now with long arms, RE boomarang shacles, and spacers to level it out. about 6" of lift and 35's




As for buying one lift then buying another a year later.... I would just buy the one you want to begin with, or peice together your own. And as for the hight to tire ratio i think you are spot on, 4.5" and 33's is perfect to me. Or 35's and 6" if you want to go bigger. But hey, that's just me.

souske said:

the trackbar is crap, the leaves are crap (mine turned into a W shape) Still running the lowers with new bushings, and the springs are nice and soft.

Honestly look around, figure out what you have the skills to make, and spend what you do have for some quality parts

If you have no skills, just save for the RE kit, i mean your gonna have to pay someone to install it anyway, might as well only get reamed once.

Click to expand...

i basically had this same experience. leaves sagged bad without wheeling hard, shocks rode like hell, bushings on all arms and tracbar were crap, and i had varying degrees of deathwobble until the day i ditched all things rusty. i will say that the coil springs were pretty nice, but thats about it.

i say either save for a better kit, or patch one together.

I think there track bars are junk, customer service is terrible, there coils sag, and shipping is outrages. Not saying I wouldn't buy from him cause I have and would again (I like his skids and some of his fab parts) but I would never buy a lift or steering parts again!

TNT/Trek is the best for suspension in my opinion! Rock Krawler, Rough Country, and Iron Rock are also good

nochance9 said:

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Nice Xj man, Hopefully mine will look like this soon, i am very close!

There should be a sticky for Rusty's bashing. We can call it "Jump on the bandwagon", as most of you have.

Other than that Rusty's is good stuff, unless they sent me the golden set, I have ZERO complaints.

X2 What he said^

Built2Flex said:

There should be a sticky for Rusty's bashing. We can call it "Jump on the bandwagon", as most of you have.

Other than that Rusty's is good stuff, unless they sent me the golden set, I have ZERO complaints.

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well I have used it first hand as did alot of other members here. After breaking a rustys HD track bar and monster tie rod on an easy trail I replaced it with a TNT bar and Rock Krawler steering and rode the same trail and many other hard one with no problems. Thats enough for me. No band wagon for me! First hand experince and I have pics
EDIT...
2:00 into this video
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=24192027
pics of the tie rod...